1890s Rye Bottle found in brothel wall! How or should I clean?

[FFProp]

I found this inside the wall of a former brothel we're renovating in New Hampshire!
1890s Rye bottle with label RHEINSTROM BROS. US Mailbox (rare)
I am hesitant to wash it, as I don't want to further damage the label. Any suggestions? I would like to sell it as I found one with a 'slightly' better label sold on Ebay for $760 10 years ago.
Thank you!

 

[nhpharm]

If you are selling it I'd sell it just like it is. The buyer can decide if they want to clean it. I don't think it will impact what you get for it.

 

[FFProp]

Thanks so much... OK then, I will probably just rinse out the inside as there's dirt and debris. Won't touch the outside.

 

[Step Back In Time]

That's a cool bottle! It's neat that it still has the label.

 

[Semar]

Agree with nhpharm; leave well enough alone.
Sell it as it is and let the buyer do as he wishes with it.
Try to think of the stains and dirt as 'patina'.
"Fresh from the attic".

 

[Len]

Some bottles speak to you. Some just smile, but Oh! the stories they could tell.. Congrats on your find. I'm sure there will be more. Don't forget the ground below windows.

 

[RNorwood]

The design of the 1840 E.G. BOOZ bottle was similar. The BOOZE bottle must have been popular in the 1890s as well.

 

[nhpharm]

This bottle is meant to look like a mailbox. The BOOZ bottles are from 1860-1870.

 

[historic-antiques]

I found this inside the wall of a former brothel we're renovating in New Hampshire!
1890s Rye bottle with label RHEINSTROM BROS. US Mailbox (rare)
I am hesitant to wash it, as I don't want to further damage the label. Any suggestions? I would like to sell it as I found one with a 'slightly' better label sold on Ebay for $760 10 years ago.
Thank you!

First of all, I never heard of a "US Mailbox" whisky!!! Yes, rare!! Does it have any embossed "mail door" or hatch where someone would open to place their mail? It seems like a figural bottle, in the shape of an 1890s mailbox!!

I would NOT wash the label, much less wash it off. A light dusting with a soft, flexible brush would be all I would do, maybe not even that. I wouldn't want to lose any paper from that label. Contrary to what some may think, intact paper labels in very good condition like yours - especially on pre-1900 bottles - are getting rarer and rarer. I have two large 1890s cure bottles with perfect labels worth perhaps $150-$200 apiece, but maybe $25 without them. Original paper labels increase a bottle's value.

Keep the bottle/label out of direct sunlight, in moderate temperatures (70-75 degrees F), at 40-50% humidity if you can. I may sound like a purist, but I'm just thinking about preserving that piece of history for another 100+ years. I have all my labeled bottles in a box, surrounded by acid-free tissue paper that will not "bleed" acids in most modern paper, into the labels and make them "brown" and flake off over time. You can get that paper through archival preservation supply companies.

Great find! It gives us a glimpse of the racier life ca. 1890, and it must have "stories" to tell us!!! Congratulations!!! Maybe you'll find more treasures behind those walls!!

Historic-antiques

I found this inside the wall of a former brothel we're renovating in New Hampshire!
1890s Rye bottle with label RHEINSTROM BROS. US Mailbox (rare)
I am hesitant to wash it, as I don't want to further damage the label. Any suggestions? I would like to sell it as I found one with a 'slightly' better label sold on Ebay for $760 10 years ago.
Thank you!

I found this inside the wall of a former brothel we're renovating in New Hampshire!
1890s Rye bottle with label RHEINSTROM BROS. US Mailbox (rare)
I am hesitant to wash it, as I don't want to further damage the label. Any suggestions? I would like to sell it as I found one with a 'slightly' better label sold on Ebay for $760 10 years ago.
Thank you!

 

[UncleBruce]

I found this inside the wall of a former brothel we're renovating in New Hampshire!
1890s Rye bottle with label RHEINSTROM BROS. US Mailbox (rare)
I am hesitant to wash it, as I don't want to further damage the label. Any suggestions? I would like to sell it as I found one with a 'slightly' better label sold on Ebay for $760 10 years ago.
Thank you!

It should stay with the renovated house.